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Originally Posted by matese  ...NOW, if he sees a dog he goes into Cujo mode. If I spot the dog before he does, I head down any isle so he will avoid seeing that dog, most times I am not fast enough, and the insane barking begins, I take him out of that dogs view, he is still wild, I firmly tell him WATCH ME so he will FOCUS on me, then I tell him to LEAVE IT. We need more practice in PUBLIC with his commands. In the house with no distractions he follows all his commands PERFECTLY, in public it's a dif. story, many distractions to get him to focus on ME. It is very embarrassing to me , I never had a not dog friendly dog, all my girls I raised as puppies and they were very socialized wtih all ppl and all types of animals, so I know how you feel. Training really helps to get them under control. |
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Originally Posted by matese Obedience classes lol. Because I THOUGHT Cody was not dog friendly I took him to obedience school, what he learned was to LUNGE at dogs now. Cody and I trained with a mini pin for the first 6 lessons, trainer had the mini pin walk in one direction,Cody and I in the opposite direction, dogs crossing, passing each other, Cody wanted to meet and greet trainer would not allow, so Cody would lunge. Next 6 lessons we trained with a 8 month old Border Collie, lessons were always somewhat close to each other, about 6 feet apart, all Cody did was lunge. 12 lessons, before the obedience classes if Cody saw a dog, he would take a stance, his stub would be wagging but trainer said he was staring, but that's all he did, just the stance, NOW,he sees a dog and he LUNGES, that is what Cody learned in 12 lessons, more then embarrassing to me. Now I need a personal trainer to undo what obedience school taught him. This LUNGING is a serious safety issue. |
^THIS!! I've always wondered why Scottie became reactive to dogs too. Now, I also believe that it was the dog obedience classes as well! The trainer did the same thing, would not allow the dogs to interact. Scottie was always a quiet puppy until the training. He was never attacked or anything. It's just so unfortunate...
He was so so so so good before. I miss his quiet non-barking days. Now...I also have to avoid and dodge dogs everywhere I go. The barking is
crazy insane! I've tried teaching him *leave it* with treats and a calm voice. It's help a very small bit, but I haven't been able to apply it enough on a multiple-daily basis for it to have a full effect. Scottie definitely needs his space. It's the most embarrassing thing ever! We're the only one in my building and neighborhood where my dogs bark at all other dogs.
I tried to socialize him and bring him to monthly dog meets. Off-leash, he's AWESOME. Never barks. Super relaxed. But on the leash, he's nuts.
Anyway. I understand how you feel! It's one of those things where not every dog owner will understand. It's easy to talk about dog obedience etc, but then you try everything and they are still reactive. I've learned to accept it, but still try my best to keep it manageable by....1) bringing treats with me during walks, 2) making sure I don't scold him, but rather keep him calm and focused on me, 3) when I see dogs, I pick my dogs up and hide their faces. lol.. it's embarrassing, but it's all I can do from preventing them from going Cujo on every dog. Because once they start they don't stop.
**I keep saying "they", because when I got Casie, she quickly adapted Scottie's barking at every single dog too. She doesn't even know why she does it! It's a lot harder to pick up two and hide their faces. Hahaha...I'm *that* clown on the street!